Formed from
the ashes of stoner rock icons Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age
reunited the group's singer/guitarist Josh Homme, drummer Alfredo
Hernandez, and bassist Nick Oliveri along with new guitarist/keyboardist
Dave Catching. The project's origins date back to Homme, who in
the wake of Kyuss' 1995 demise relocated to Seattle to tour with
the Screaming Trees; he soon began working with a revolving lineup
of musicians including the Trees' Van Conner, Soundgarden's Matt
Cameron, and Dinosaur Jr.'s Mike Johnson, recording a series of
7"s originally issued under the name Gamma Ray. After rechristening
the group Queens of the Stone Age, Homme recruited Hernandez to
begin work on their self-titled debut LP, issued in late 1998
on Loosegroove; after the album was completed, Oliveri left the
Dwarves to re-join his former bandmates, with the subsequent addition
of Catching rounding out the roster. In addition to extensive
touring, Homme put together a series of albums for the indie label
Man's Ruin; the various volumes of The Desert Sessions feature
Homme's collaborations with a loose-knit, revolving-door lineup
of like-minded musicians, some from bands like Soundgarden, Fu
Manchu, and Monster Magnet. In mid-2000, Queens of the Stone Age
issued their sophomore album, R (as in the movie rating; some
promo copies were distributed with the original title, "II"),
before appearing on that year's Ozzfest tour. By that point, drummer
Hernandez had been replaced by a tag-team combo of Gene Troutman
and Nicky Lucero. The group built a healthy buzz courtesy of accolades
from such renowned publications as Rolling Stone, and due to good-old-fashioned
touring. 2001 saw the group perform at the massive Rock in Rio
festival (after which Oliveri was arrested by the Brazilian police
for performing nude) and a spot on the year's Ozzfest. The same
year, Homme and Oliveri put together yet another volume of the
Desert Sessions series, while QOTSA assembled a third studio album.
Ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl was very vocal in the press about
his admiration of the Queens, which led to an invitation for him
to join the group for the third album's recording and, subsequently,
supporting tour. Surprisingly, Grohl accepted, putting the Foo
Fighters on hold (despite having a new album completed and ready
to go). One of the year's most eagerly anticipated hard rock albums,
Songs for the Deaf was issued in August of 2002, and was preceded
by a tour that saw Oliveri and Homme joined by Grohl on drums,
ex-Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan, and A Perfect Circle
guitarist/keyboardist Troy Van Leeuwen. As if their schedules
weren't busy enough between QOTSA and their other projects, Oliveri
and Homme signed on to pen the musical score to the movie The
Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (with backing by Rage Against the
Machine drummer Brad Wilk), and formed a new project, Headband,
with ex-Marilyn Manson bassist Twiggy Ramirez and Amen frontman
Casey Chaos.